1961 Volvo PV544 in Holland

[Army]

Two pictures showing the position of the ID tag on my M40 gearbox





I wasn't able to find similar pictures on the interweb so I hope these help. (Of course now there will be a tsunami of hits!)

[Army]

PV progress is still stumbling along but I've been distracted by a cheap engine on Marktplaats (Dutch ebay type site) for my long suffering Mercedes W123 which needs to be converted from Diesel to something else that won't cost a fortune in road tax.

(Road tax for my diesel W123 would be about 2200 euros a year - I'm of the mind the tax man gets enough road duties in one form or another so this type of silliness needs to be nipped in the bud)

There's also a little project I'm starting for my Land Rover - messing about with diesel injectors and diesel injector pumps...

...perversely after what I've just said about diesel engines and road tax, at the moment really old diesels are still road tax exempt so I reckon there's still a time to make stuff for my preferred "fuel of the future"...

[Army]

First off I think I need to own up and state that I'm most certainly not at one with electrickery. It really isn't my thing.

I think it isn't my thing because I've done my best to avoid it. Having got a car that uses Bosch CIS (KE II) I've had to get used to the concept of angry pixies (as some put it) but you know how it goes here I am scratching me nuts thinking about the future use of the PV and how best to tackle the problem of (re)wiring - so I'm going to have to suck it up and try again.

Decisions have been made.

I've decided what I want:-

1) I want to use a more modern wiring style - more fuses (have you seen the USS Enterprise fuse boxes on modern VAG cars these days?)
2) I want to use relays to avoid bunging mega amps through switches
3) I want four in car power sockets (traditional fag lighter plugs) two under the dash for navigation / cameras and one in each of the rear ash trays where children with tablets / phones might be sitting
4) I want decent OTT wiring for the tow hitch electrics
5) I want an electric cooling fan (I guess this will cause comments!)
6) There will be two fog lights up front
7) One fog light out back
8) I want a reversing light (I don't think there is one at the moment - there is a switch on the gearbox)
9) I don't want a radio!
10) I want to use uninsulated tinned connectors - I will be crimping not soldering
11) I want to use thin walled wiring
12) I want to use some of the existing colour coding for the wires so parts agree with the PV wiring diagram
13) I want to label every wire with a Dynotape industrial system I've found which prints on heat shrink
14) I want to use small connectors for certain parts that might need to be removed so wires can fit through holes - such as tow hitch wiring - headlight / fog light wiring. I'm not a fan of modern multiplugs because they don't fit through 1960s holes. So no multi-plugs.
15) The connections in 14 above need to be in waterproof junction boxes
16) I want anal redundancy instead of wiring it cheap - that means slightly heavier thicker wires and no sharing of relays - I wish to approach a level of robustness approaching aircraft => redundancy that I've not seen in a factory car
17) I will probably stick with the original flasher relay
18) I want to approach a one item one fuse level of silliness so it is easy to trace faults (this probably won't happen for e-v-e-r-y-thing)

Ideally I'd like to have a modern integrated relay and fuse box but after market ones seem to be hard to find for what I'm planning.

(Now starts the overkill - welcome to my "it is just like plumbing" heavy wiring world)

I think the following items need relays

a) Fog light front LHS (50W)
b) Fog light front RHS (50W)
c) Fog light rear (45W)
d) Cooling fan (??W)
e) Headlight LHS (45W)
f) Headlight RHS (45W)
g) Indicator relay (original)
h) Horn(s)

I realise this isn't the way most cars are wired. So I thought I'd ask for opinions from those with more electrickery experience than me to see what they think. This is a forum - this thread might seem at times like a blog - it isn't meant to be that way - so what ya got to say?



(P.S. Because this is a forum I reserve the right to ultimately ignore advice given - despite this caveat I do appreciate the input of others which is why I've chosen to write up this stuff on a forum and not in a blog)

[MikeKiernan]

Have you considered usb sockets rather than fag lighter plug sockets? Most modern charging devices use them. Have you also considered LED lights to improve reliability and power consumption ?

All the best, Mike.

[Army]

Originally Posted by MikeKiernan

Have you considered usb sockets rather than fag lighter plug sockets? Most modern charging devices use them. Have you also considered LED lights to improve reliability and power consumption ?

All the best, Mike.

Thanks Mike,

I do indeed intend to play about with LED bulbs but I think it is important to make sure that conventional ones will still work in case its needed in an emergency

The USB things scare me a bit. They "do something" to change the voltage and seem to be famous for the mains sockets at least for starting fires. Also things like my cheapo Garmin navigation thing freaks out if you don't use the supplied adapter (which has to go into a fag lighter. I figured that the straight forward universal socket was probably best - I'll look a bit deeper into the USB connectors (may be they're not so complicated for a 12V car system and don't spontaneously combust so easily)

[Army]

During my race against the oncoming colder weather I made a few mistakes with the paint on the doors.- I wish I'd taken my time now!

Still one door now done =>





I've just got to treat the inside of the door to a good few coats of (brushed on) Eastwood rust encapsulator then it is a case of putting parts back in - rock on!

(Oh yes - the lower door seal still needs to be fixed - more about that some other time)

[93240se]

Hi Army, try this company for vehicle wiring items, usually very helpful when I've used them
Regards, Richard


http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

[Army]

Originally Posted by 93240se

Hi Army, try this company for vehicle wiring items, usually very helpful when I've used them
Regards, Richard


http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

Brilliant tip - thank you - I was wondering about them!

[Army]

Well I'm getting close to starting on the inside of the car. All very exciting...

...the other day when the land lady was out (when the cat's away the mice will play!) I could have been found washing the windscreen rubbers in the kitchen sink =>



Next stage is to treat them to some aerospace 303 protectant / cleaner before I attempt to fit the glass



A few years back it was very hard to find - but it seems like it is widely available. If you haven't used it on your car's rubber parts before I reckon it is worth giving it a go to see what you think.

[arcturus]

Glycerine does it for me.